


When It's Something Special

by pinkevilbob



Series: Only Takes A Taste [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Baking, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Me and maybe 3 other people are interested in this fic but that's not going to stop me, Nonbinary Character, Other, Pregnancy, Self-Indulgent, Sibling Rivalry, background widojest, but that is going on in the background, it's a minor character that's pregnant, widojest kids - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:28:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22290769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkevilbob/pseuds/pinkevilbob
Summary: Guys, my brain isn't working, so I'm going to give it to you straight. This has princes and tragic individuals and baking and Widojest in the background and self worth issues and bread.  A sequel to Only Takes a Taste that doesn't focus on the original leads. Sounds fun? Give it a read!
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Nonbinary Character
Series: Only Takes A Taste [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1604524
Comments: 30
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, yeah, I've returned to the Princess Jester and Taste Tester Caleb AU, but I'm just going to focus on some of their kids. Yes, I'm writing an au for my Widojest kid, Alby. Sometimes you just got to write what you like. No clue if anyone actually wants to read this, but I enjoyed writing it and I hope it makes sense to people.

Alby ran down the halls of the palace. He was late. Mama and Papa were going to give him an earful about this. Well not really, Mama was going to be talking a lot about how she was worried about him and Papa would just give a half nod of understanding. Papa was never one for official ceremonies or celebrations, and he was definitely not one for grand balls. But it wasn’t like Alby was trying to be late. Some of the kids that lived in the palace lost their ball, and Alby had to help them find it. Though if he was being honest, Alby was going to be late even if he hadn’t stopped to help the kids, but no one needed to know that.

He pushed the door open to the ballroom a sliver and looked around. The ball was already in full swing and all eyes were on the dance floor. Alby tried to just slip through the door before remembering that he was not small enough for that and probably never was. The door swung open and Alby stepped in. The only person who seemed to notice his entrance was his younger brother, Oskar. “You’re late.”

“I needed to help some of the kids get their ball back,” Alby said.

“Third time this month you’ve been late for something.” Oskar’s eyes were locked on the dancing. “Is something the matter?”

Alby shrugged. “Not really. I’m just not very good with time.”

“Unless, it comes to baking. You missed Harley’s grand return.”

Alby fought the urge to grimace. He loved his older brother and missed him, but Alby found it hard to be around him sometimes. It sometimes felt like Harley was the perfect image of a prince and Alby was miscast in the role. “Ah, well, I’m sure I’ll see plenty of him tomorrow.” Harley hardly ever had time for his siblings during this kind of event anyways.

“You missed the introduction of his new friend.” Oskar nodded at one of the dancing couples. The way he said friend was odd.

“Is Harley actually deigning to let us meet one of his liaisons?”

Oskar choked on the laugh. “Hardly. This is someone that he met on his journey at sea. Apparently, Harley saved them from pirates.”

Of course Harley did. At this point, Alby would believe that Harley could turn water into wine. “Hmm.”

“They’re the odd sort, though. I don’t really know what to make of them,” Oskar said.

“Well, if you don’t, I certainly won’t,” Alby said. Mama swept past dancing with their grandma. Both Alby and Oskar bowed to them.

Oskar straightened up. “Don’t sell yourself so short. I’m sure that-” He stopped short staring at someone behind Alby.

Alby turned around to see the newest librarian heading toward them. The librarian was a handsome human, blond with striking green eyes. A smirk crossed Alby’s face and he quickly hid it. Oskar was embarrassed enough in front of his crush without Alby around making it worse. “I’m going to check on Papa,” Alby said.

“Um yeah,” Oskar said not looking away from the librarian.

With a chuckle, Alby left to go to the thrones. Romance was never something that Alby entertained much, so it always gave him a laugh to see his siblings fall face first into it. Lina, wise in her whole 11 years of living, would say that kissing was for people who didn’t have anything better to do, and Alby had bread to bake.

Papa was moodily staring out into the dance floor. He seemed okay, but that didn’t stop Alby from worrying. “Are you alright, Papa?” Alby asked.

“Your mother is a heartless tyrant,” Papa said not looking at him.

“What he means to say is Mama took away his book and won’t return it until after the ball,” Una said in the throne next to his. She was heavily pregnant, due in less than a month, and unable to keep still for more than thirty seconds at a time. Though the third condition was always true for her.

Papa huffed. “I had less than 150 pages left in it. It’s not like I have anything to do at these things.” Dancing usually ending with Mama carrying him back to his throne. His health had always been poor, and he tired easily. Traces of when he was the royal taste tester for Mama. It was an interesting and exciting story when Alby was little, but now it was mainly just a reminder of his father’s mortality.

“You could count how many blue dresses there are here,” Alby suggested.

“Thirty-seven. There’s 13 yellow dresses, 24 green ones, and 31 in various hues of red or pink,” Papa said.

Alby rubbed his chin. “That’s nearly twice as many yellow ones as last time.”

“Looks like they’re making a comeback after Mama wore one,” Una said. She shifted in her seat again and groaned. “Alby, will you do me the honor of a dance?”

He shook his head. “Dr. Trickfoot said that you’re supposed to be resting.”

Una sulked. “Resting’s boring. As your future queen, it’s your duty to listen to me.”

“As your future subject, it’s my duty to keep you safe. And that means no dancing,” Alby said.

Una slumped down in her throne grumbling.

“If it’s any help, I believe you and I can get out of here in about ten minutes,” Papa said.

“Do you need any help?” Alby asked. “I don’t mind leaving early.”

Una laughed. “You’re not getting out of this so easily. Uncle Fj- Captain Fjord already called dibs in helping us leaving.”

“Oh.” Balls were fine and all, but Alby always felt clumsy and awkward at them. Doubly so when they were in one of his siblings’ honor. He always felt like everyone was staring at him wondering why he never did anything worth noticing. “I’m going to go find the punchbowl.”

“Okay. Cad made those weird candied oranges you like,” Una said.

Alby smiled at this. He already knew that Cad was making them, but it was nice of his older sister to remember what he liked. “I’ll be sure to keep an eye open for them.” He took his leave with a bow and kept to the walls as he went to the punch.

The layout of every ball was always the same, and Alby still managed to find a way to get turned around in them. The song ended allowing the dancers a break or at least the chance to change partners before Alby made it to the snack table. A hand rested on his arm. “Alby! I’ve been worried about you.”

“I’m fine, Mama,” Alby said before even turning to face her. “Good evening, Grandmama.”

Grandmama kissed him on his cheek. “We’ve been wondering where you were.”

“There was some urgent business that I had to attend to,” Alby said.

Mama smirked. “Did some of the little kids lose their ball again?”

Alby shrugged and then grinned. “You read me too well.”

“It’s good that you still came though,” Mama said. “If your father was running late, he’d just skip the whole thing.” She glanced at Papa affectionately.

Alby forced a smile. “I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”

Grandmama gave him an appraising look over, but she didn’t say anything.

“I was going to go to the snack table and-”

“You got lost again.” Mama giggled. “It’s over there.” She pointed across the ballroom. “And make sure to welcome your older brother before the end of the evening.”

Alby bowed hiding his grimace. “Of course, Mama.” He bowed to his grandmother and kissed her hand before straightening up and make his way to the snack table.

The snacks and appetizers were already well picked over waiting to be replenished, but there were still plenty of candied oranges. Alby stuffed a full slice in his mouth and savored the sticky sourness of it. He was about to grab a plate to fill up when something touched his foot. Looking down, he saw a small blue hand waving from under the table at him. “Hi Lina.”

“Hi Alby,” Lina said poking her head out from under the table cloth. “Can you sneak me some juice?”

Alby filled up a punch glass and set it on the floor for her. “See any interesting ankles down there?”

“Not really. This is a really boring year for shoes,” Lina said.

“You should’ve seen the ones when I was nine.”

Lina frowned up at him. “I wasn’t even born yet, so I couldn’t have.”

“Oh right. They were all this weird brown color,” Alby said. “You going back to your room yet?” It had been a long tradition of Alby’s siblings to sneak out of their rooms and hide under the snacks table during balls and the like.

She shook her head. “It’s not that boring.” Lina then frowned. “People were saying mean things about you.”

Alby sighed. The last thing he needed was his younger sister worrying. “Did they say anything mean about you.”

“No. but they shouldn’t be mean to you. When Una’s queen, she should make a law against that,” Lina said.

“That’s not how things work,” Alby said. “People are allowed to say whatever they want.”

Lina pouted. “But they said that you’re dumb and lazy and a disappointment. Which you’re not.”

Alby ruffled her hair. “Well, if you think I’m none of those things, that’s enough for me.”

“I should’ve hit them. If anyone else says mean things about you, I’m going to hit them.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” Alby said sternly. “That’d just make you a bully.”

Lina frowned at him. “But I’d be defending you. Like Harley and his new friend.”

“What new friend?” Alby asked.

“Harley’s ship was attacked by pirates and he fought them all off saving everyone and was a grand hero,” Lina said excitedly.

Alby fought the urge to frown. Harley returning as a hero was going to be a lot to deal with, but Lina didn’t need to know that. “That’s a different situation though. The pirates hit him first and Harley had to protect himself and those on the ship.”

“You’re making it boring. You don’t know how to tell a good story Alby,” Lina said. It was odd just how condescending an 11 year old could be.

“It doesn’t need to be a good story. You just need to be nice to others and not be a bully,” Alby said. “Now was there anything else you wanted up here?”

Lina nodded. “Are there still the round cookies?”

“Yeah, I’ll get you a plate.” Alby loaded a plate with cookies and handed it to Lina. “Papa and Una should be leaving in about 5 minutes. You can probably sneak out behind them.”

Lina already shoved three cookies in her mouth. “Okay!” she said with a full mouth before slipping back under the table cloth.

Alby grinned to himself and then got his own plate ready. The next thing to do was to find a quiet corner to hide in and see how long he could get away with staying there.

The far wall of the ballroom was dimly lit and had several pillars that good for remain unseen behind. Alby wasn’t the only one with that thought he soon discovered. A large older human man was loudly talking to someone there. It was a voice Alby was unfortunately familiar with, Algar Dyomin. The man was a bore and more than just a bit of a bully. He used to bother Grandmama all the time, but Alby and his siblings put an end to that.

Squaring his shoulders, Alby turned the corner. Algar was talking at a small waif of a half-elf. He had them pinned against a wall with a large meaty hand. Alby had thought that they’d managed to scare that kind of behavior out of Algar, but apparently the man needed another reminder.

“Pardon me, Mr. Dyomin,” Alby said putting a hand on the older man’s arm. “May I ask you what’s going on here?”

“Just a friendly conversation.” Algar tried to pull his arm away from Alby, but Alby tightened his grip. Alby may have been shorter by several inches, but he matched Algar pound for pound when it came to bulk.

A small whimper came from the half-elf. Their eyes were tightly closed and they shook like a leaf.

“This doesn’t look like a friendly conversation to me,” Alby said.

“Then maybe you need your eyes checked.” Algar tried to pull his arm away again, but Alby just tightened his grip again making Algar wince.

Alby looked back at the half-elf. They looked terrified. “My eyes work just fine. I think you should leave the ball,” he said.

Algar glared at him. “And why would I do that?”

“Because,” Alby said, “I might have to hit you if you don’t.” Algar was a brute dressed in finery, but that was alright; so was Alby.

“You don’t have the balls,” Algar said.

Alby made a fist and pulled his arm back. The tightness of his shirt emphasized his muscles and for once Alby was grateful for it. “Do you want to find out?” He let go of Algar.

Algar stumbled backwards. “This isn’t the end of this.” He stormed away and out of the ballroom.

With a sigh, Alby turned back to the half-elf. “I’m sorry about that. Are you okay?”

The half-elf was shivering harder than before staring at him.

“Yeha, I guess not. I’m Alby.” He looked around not sure what to do.

The half-elf sat down on the ground.

“Oh.” Alby backed up a step and sat down. He stared down at the ground. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” It was never something he worked towards, but he knew how intimidating his size made him.

The half-elf remained silent. They were dressed in a fine blue robe with silver thread embellishing it. A matching headband covered their forehead and fingerless gloves covered their hands. With their honey brown eyes and long flowing brown hair, they were beautiful. But that didn’t matter much to Alby, as he noticed just how skinny and under fed they looked. This was someone who could do with a good meal.

Alby sat there quiet near them. He felt like he should say something, but he had no clue what words he should say. His siblings would know. Una would be kind or mischievious depending on her mood, Oskar could distract with the perfect scientific fact, Lina would say a little prayer or blessing, and Harley would be so charming the half-elf wouldn’t have been upset in the first place. Unfortunately, the one there was Alby.

A soft rumbling sound distracted Alby from his thoughts. The half-elf’s face was red and they sunk into themself.

“Are you hungry?” Alby asked.

The half-elf’s eyes dashed about for a moment before nodding.

“There’s plenty of snacks by the punchbowl,” Alby said. “I can show you where it is.”

The half-elf shook their head.

“Oh, okay then.” Alby scratched his head. “I had a plate. I can share it with you.” He looked over at where he had dropped it in the heat of the moment and discovered that it had been trodden on. “Oh yeah. Um, I can get you a new plate.”

The half-elf grabbed his sleeve shaking their head.

Alby couldn’t blame them for not wanting to be alone after what just happened. “Do you want to leave here? I can get you something from the kitchen.”

The half-elf hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

“Ok,” Alby said getting up with an oof. The half-elf continued to hold on to his sleeve. The two of them went down the corridors in silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable though.

The kitchen was still bustling with preparing and replacing snacks for the ball. The half-elf clung tighter to Alby’s sleeve. “You don’t want to go in there, do you?” Alby asked. A shake of the head. “Do you want to wait here while I get you something?” Another shake of their head. Alby gave it some thought. “Well, there shouldn’t be anyone one in the baking kitchen. I can find us something in there. Does that sound good to you?”

The half-elf nodded. The baking kitchen was smaller and attached to the main kitchen by an open window, but a small wooden door could close it off. The bread kitchen was warm and mostly counter space with supplies under them. It was busy mostly in the morning and the far wall was dominated by a large oven. Occasionally the main kitchen would use the oven as well, but usually it was the bakers' territory meaning that it was Alby's territory. A happy little fire almost always lived beneath the oven. Alby threw in a couple of more logs to build up the heat. He smiled to himself as the fire crackled and spat.

"There we go. Some more light and heat to bake by." Alby dragged out the flour and looked at what else was available. He had everything he needed for bread, but that would take too long to make. Glancing about the shelves, he caught sight of the dried fruit. "How about scones?"

He was met with a confused stare.

"Oh, Have you never had a scone before?" Alby asked.

The half-elf shook their head.

"Oh, then I'll make you some. I've been told that the ones I make are the best." Though that might've just been his siblings buttering him up. “Do you want to watch?”

The half-elf nodded. Their face was blank, any expression muted. It was a little hard to read.

"Ok," Alby said as he rolled up his sleeves. "You can take a seat on that counter over there. I'll be working over here and don't need a lot of space." He pointed at the counter on the other side of the kitchen.

It wasn't a particularly high counter, but the half-elf struggled with getting up on it.

Alby paused in his preparations. "Here let me help you." He moved forward meaning to pick them up, but Alby stopped when he saw the half-elf flinch. "Or how 'bout this." Kneeling on one knee, he offered the other one as a step.

The half-elf nodded seriously and stepped up using Alby's leg as a stool. They sat down on the counter and stared at Alby.

"There." He could feel his face grow warm, but he wasn't sure why. The oven still wasn't hot enough to heat up the entire room. Reciting a prayer to the traveler, Alby held his hand in the oven and could keep it in there for more than one recitation. "Hmm, still not hot enough," he said to himself, throwing in another couple of logs into the stove.

The half-elf stared at him.

"Oh, that? If you can say exactly one prayer of mischief before it's too hot to keep your hand in, the oven's ready to bake the scones. Otherwise it's too hot or cold," Alby said. He got out the rest of his ingredients out and began scooping them into a bowl. It was mostly instinct for him. There was a time that Alby would measure things, but now he could feel the right weights of everything. Baking was as natural as breathing.

A head poked through the window. It was Caduceus, the head chef of the main kitchen. "Thought you were going to be at the ball. Is everything okay?"

Alby nodded. "Yeah, one of the guests asked me to show them the baking kitchen and make them some scones." He wanted to squirm under the firbolg’s placid gaze. Sometimes it felt like Caduceus could see right through him. Though it wasn't a lie, not really. The half-elf was a guest and needed something to eat, which was basically the same as asking Alby to bake.

“Need anything from the icebox?”

Relief swept over Alby. Caduceus wasn’t going to ask any questions after all. Not that Alby was doing anything wrong, but part of him couldn’t help but feel like he got caught sneaking off. “Milk and eggs,” he said.

Caduceus hummed thoughtfully and ducked down for a moment before returning with the milk and eggs. "Do your parents know that you're down here?"

"Umm," Alby said looking to the side. "No, but it's not like they'd worry. I am an adult."

Caduceus nodded. "Oh yeah. Do you want to send a messenger to them?"

Alby shook his head. "No, it's fine. Besides, everyone knows to look for me here."

"That's true," Caduceus said. "Want me to close the window?"

"If you could," Alby said. He heaved a sigh of relief. While he adored Caduceus, the firbolg had the talent of making Alby feel like a little kid sometimes. Alby turned back to the half-elf.

They were staring at the little door covering the window. A slight shiver went down them.

"Are you okay?" Alby asked.

The half-elf nodded.

"Oh, that's good." Alby finished measuring the dry ingredients and fill the cup he was using for measuring with dry fruit. "Here you go," he said handing it to the half-elf. "For while you wait for the scones to be ready."

The half-elf took the cup and cautiously nibbled on the fruit.

"Do you know any signs?" Alby asked. "Or maybe fingerspelling?"

The half-elf shook their head.

Alby wasn't entirely surprised. If the half-elf did know signing, they probably would've used it already. "Well, maybe I can show you some while this bakes."

The half-elf stared at him for a long moment before nodding.

He went back to his bowl, stirring it by hand. It was easier to tell when it was completely mixed together this way. That and Alby liked the feeling of dough on his hands. Alby had already spread out flour on the counter for rolling out the dough and a pile of flour for keeping it off the pin and his hands. As he coated his hands and rolling pin with flour, Alby was struck by an idea. “Can you write?”

Hesitantly, the half-elf nodded.

“Would you like to write out your name for me?” Alby asked.

The half-elf nodded and then looked around.

“Here.” Alby approached the counter next to the half-elf and spread a thin layer of flour on it. “You can write on the counter with your finger.”

For a long time, the half-elf just stared at the flour. Alby was starting to second guess his idea when the half-elf started to write.

He hung back waiting for the half-elf to finish before reading their name. “The Runechild? Am I reading that right?”

They nodded.

“Oh, well, it’s nice to meet you Runechild,” Alby said.

A small smile graced their lips.

* * *

  
The night was not going the way the Runechild had expected it to. But they weren’t really sure what they had expected it to be like. Harley had told them all about the ball and what happens at them, but nothing he said felt real. It seemed hard to believe that a prince of a good kingdom would’ve saved them or would have paid so much attention to them. The ball was so big, bright, and full of people. The Runechild tried to sneak out, but that terrible man had stopped them. And then Alby saved them.

Alby smiled quietly to himself as he rolled out the dough. The Runechild didn’t know what to make of him. He was big, though not in a tall way, mainly in just a fat and muscle way, but that seemed to make him feel all the bigger. There was a softness to him too though. Not once did he try to force the Runechild to do anything. Instead, he was quiet and waited for them. Or offered them something else. No one had ever done anything like that for the Runechild before. It was very strange.

Quietness hung in the kitchen as Alby carefully cut the scones. There was a strength to his arms. Even if the Runechild hadn’t seen him threaten that terrible man, they would’ve recognized it. But Alby was so gentle despite all his strength. Part of the Runechild wondered what it would be like to be held in his strong but gentle arms. A wave of heat hit their face and they had to duck down.

“Are you okay?” Alby asked softly.

Not looking at him, the Runechild nodded.

“Good.”

The Runechild risked looking at him and he was smiling. And that smile was all for the Runechild. It felt so precious.

Alby sprinkled some sugar on top of the scones and then put them in the oven. “Ten minutes and then they’ll be done. Do you still want me to show you fingerspelling?”

The Runechild nodded. The idea of being able to remain silent but still say something was welcome. Even if they didn’t have anything important to say.

“Let’s start then.”

* * *

Harley searched everywhere for the Runechild. He had turned his back on them for only a moment really, just a short dance, and when he came back, they were nowhere to be seen. The Runechild should’ve known better than to wander off, especially since this was their first day in the palace, but there was no way of telling what was going on in their mind.

It was a long shot, but after checking every nook and cranny of the main floor, Harley went down to the kitchens in hopes that in their constant going up and down replenishing the snack tables someone had seen the Runechild. The kitchen was still busy when Harley got there, and helming it all in his slow, thoughtful way was Cad. “Do you need anything, Prince Harley?”

“Yes, I do,” Harley said, “I’m looking for a person. They’re small, like not even 5 feet? And thin. Um, they’re wearing blue robes?” Harley hadn’t really paid attention to what the Runechild was wearing.

“With silver detailing?” Cad asked.

Harley nodded. “Yeah, I think so. Oh, and they’re a half-elf.”

“Sounds like Alby’s guest.”

Harley bristled. “Alby’s guest?” The Runechild was Harley’s guest and no one else’s. He was the one that rescued them from pirates.

Cad nodded with a lazy smile. “Yeah, he said that his guest wanted him to make them some scones. They’re in the baking kitchen.”

“Thanks,” Harley said distractedly. It wasn’t a surprise that Alby was in the baking kitchen. Baking was about all he did. But that the Runechild was there too caught Harley off guard. Since Harley had rescued them, the Runechild just clung to him and kept close to his side. Harley had to admit that it was a little annoying, especially since the Runechild was mute and would never speak to him, but there was something nice on having someone rely on him.

Harley came to the open door way of the baking kitchen and stopped. The Runechild sat on top of the counter nibbling on dried fruit watching Alby carefully. The scones were in the oven and Alby was signing something. Fingerspelling it looked like. For how most things came naturally to Harley, fingerspelling and signing were tricky for him and kind of felt like a hassle. But it made sense to use them with the Runechild. Really, Harley was surprised that Alby came up with it first.

Not that there was anything wrong with Alby, but when you got down to it, he was the simplest of the siblings. If it weren’t for the rest of them, Alby would’ve been lost. He was kind, though, and good natured which was how he was able to just skate by in life and just bake. Alby just wasn’t cut out for the world outside of the bakery. Not like Harley.

The Runechild leaned forward and signed something back to Alby. Alby smiled and grabbed something from under the counters. Harley ducked away from the doorway. It was obvious that Alby had everything under control here, and the ball probably wasn’t even halfway over yet. The elder prince slipped back up the stairs. He was fine leaving Alby to babysit the Runechild. After all, it’s not like Alby had anything better to do.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm going to update the tags for some warnings about past abuse. There shouldn't be too much in this fic, but giving you guys a heads up, the Runechild doesn't have a happy past.

Alby froze at the door of the dining chamber. Sitting at the table with a bowl of porridge in front of them was the Runechild. They sat next to Harley who was deep in conversation with Mama. It felt a bit surreal, and if Alby hadn’t been awake already for hours, he would’ve judge it to be a dream.

“Oh!” Lina said kneeling on her chair leaning forward. “What did you bring today?”

“Sit properly in your chair,” Papa said not even looking up from his book. Grumbling, Lina sat back down.

Alby set the basket he was carrying down on the table all the while stealing glances at the Runechild. What were they doing there? Not that Alby minded, but he did find it confusing. “I hope you don’t mind scones again,” Alby said to them.

The Runechild just stared at Alby.

“Wait, you two know each other?” Oskar asked.

Alby nodded, but before he could say anything, Harley interrupted him. “Alby helped me watch the Runechild last night.” Something about how Harley used the word watch didn’t sit right with Alby.

“Yeah,” Alby said his throat dry. He sat down between Oskar and Lina.

“So is that where you disappeared to?” Mama asked. “I noticed that you were missing.”

Alby could feel his cheeks turning red, or rather a very light purple. “Yes.”

Harley grabbed a few scones and set one of them on the Runechild’s plate. “The Runechild doesn’t seem to like crowds much. Alby took them to the baking kitchens.”

“That’s Alby for you,” Una said with a shrug. Mama passed her some scones encouraging her to remain seated.

“They were hungry and everyone was busy in the main kitchen,” Alby said. The Runechild sunk low in their chair, so Alby quickly added, “Which I didn’t mind. That’s why I’m a baker. To make tasty things for people.”

Harley muttered something, but Alby didn’t catch it. Una apparently did judging by her slapping Harley on the arm. “Hey!” Harley shouted.

“Don’t say that,” Una said. “Baking’s an excellent career.”

Alby bit his tongue to keep himself from groaning. First thing in the morning(well first thing for the rest of the family) and already they were treating him with kid gloves.

“You don’t have to have scones,” Oscar said leaning forward to steal the goodies off Harley’s plate.

“Stop it,” Harley said stabbing at Oscar’s hand with his fork.

Papa turned the page of his book. “Only one day back and you all remember the old fights. Good to see somethings never change.”

“He was only gone for nine months,” Oscar said. “We didn’t have time to forget or miss him.”

“I missed him,” Alby said. It felt like it needed to be said, and Una was too busy glaring at Harley and Lina was playing with her scone.

Mama smiled at Alby. “See Alby missed you, Harley.”

Harley grinned a perfect smile at Alby. “It’s good to know that someone hasn’t forgotten me.”

“Yeah.” A plate of eggs and bacon was set in front of Alby. To be fair, Alby had already had breakfast, but that was several hours ago, so he felt justified in digging in.

“And it’s nice to see your table manners haven’t changed,” Harley said with a snort.

“Family breakfast doesn’t need manners,” Lina said in a froggy voice moving her scone up and down like it was talking.

Papa glanced up from his book. “We do have a guest.”

The Runechild was as small as they could be in their seat. They looked around the table afraid.

“Oh,” Alby said out loud. “Are you okay?” he fingerspelled.

The Runechild watched him carefully before and signing back, “I’m fine.”

Alby smiled at them. “Sorry, we’re always a loud group,” he spelled out.

“Gone silent again?” Oskar asked. When Alby was younger, sometimes his mouth would lock up and refuse to speak. All the family and a large portion of the staff learned at least some fingerspelling to talk to him when words wouldn’t come out. But Alby stopped going silent during his teen years, so they didn't use it as much as they once did.

Papa quickly pocketed his book and straightened in his chair alerted. His hands were at the ready.

“No,” Alby said softly. ”I’m fine. It’s just easier this way for the Runechild, I think.”

“Ah,” Papa said out loud before switching to fingerspelling. “You can sign?”

The Runechild shook their head. “Only what Alby showed me.”

Mama smiled. “You must be a very fast learner then,” she said out loud spelling it all out at the same time.

“A lot faster than Harley,” Oscar said. “He was miserable at it.”

“Oh, shut up,” Harley snapped. “Talking’s faster anyways.”

Una rolled her eyes. “Grow up. He’s just saying that your new friend’s impressive.” She smiled at the Runechild.

“I’m learning signs too,” Lina said. “Maybe we can practice together!”

The Runechild shrunk down under all the attention.

“Maybe another day,” Alby suggested gently. He moved his chair back and stood. “I need to get back to the baking kitchen.” Alby signed a quick goodbye to the Runechild.

“Wait,” Harley said. “I’m busy today with all my responsibilities. You can take the Runechild with you.”

Alby was about to say something when he noticed that for the first time the Runechild sat up straight. Their expression was hard for Alby to read, but they stared straight at him. “Would you like to?” he asked them.

It was a moment before the Runechild shyly nodded.

“Okay, then,” Alby said with a smile. “I’d love to take the Runechild with me.”

* * *

Being with Alby was an easy thing, the Runechild decided. Even in the frightening noise of his family, he was a steady island of stillness. He didn’t even complain as the Runechild held onto his sleeve.

Alby didn’t talk as they went down the hallways except for the occasional hello to someone as they passed them. The Runechild liked the quiet sound of just their footsteps. They clung tighter to his sleeve as they went past the main kitchen with all its noise and commotion.

There was a smile on Alby’s face as the two of them entered the baking kitchen. A small reverent smile. The air smelled of warmth and yeast. When the Runechild was young and still stupid, they’d sneaked out into kitchens and find a rare comfort in them. But the Runechild had grown up a lot since then and got the stupid beaten out of them long ago.

“Do you want to watch or help?” Alby asked silently with his hands. He’d brought them to the kitchens and the Runechild was grateful, but they didn’t know what Alby wanted. The tiefling was kind, but when he asked questions the Runechild couldn’t tell what the right answer was. “Ok, how about you watch for now and maybe you can help later.”

The Runechild nodded glad that he provided the right answer for them. Alby rolled up his sleeves exposed his large arms again and grabbed a huge bowl covered with a towel. He removed the towel, flipped the bowl over revealing a giant blob of dough. A gasp escaped the Runechild when he then grabbed a large blade. They flinched when Alby turned his gaze to them. “What’s the matter?” he asked.

They couldn’t help but stare at the blade in his hand.

“Oh, this?” Alby asked. “It’s for cutting the dough into loaves. Do you want to give it a try?”

The Runechild shook their head hard. That was something they could never do.

“Alright.” Alby went back to the counter and slowly and carefully sliced off a hunk of dough. He carefully set the blade down and spelled out, “Is it okay if I keep going?”

It was Alby’s kitchen. Why was he asking for permission? Especially from the Runechild. Hesitantly the Runechild nodded.

With a smooth motion Alby grabbed the blade again and began slicing off dough. The Runechild was so focused on the knife that it wasn’t until Alby was done that they realized that each hunk of dough was uniform in size. He set the large blade aside and grabbed a smaller one setting it on the count next to him. Alby grabbed a lump of dough, kneaded it, gave it a few punches, and then folded it into shape. Grabbing the small knife again, Alby cut three slashes into the loaf and set it aside. The process was repeated multiple times with each hunk of dough until there were only two hunks left.

Alby grabbed one and pulled it apart into three smaller chunks. With a smile and a soft hum, he rolled one out into a little thin rope. “Do you want to help?” he asked.

The Runechild nodded without thinking. They pulled off their gloves and joined Alby at the counter. Alby hooked his foot around a small step stool and pulled it out from under the counter. Stepping on it, the Runechild was still much shorter than Alby. “Here,” he said placing one of the globs of dough in front of them with a smile. It was sticky and the Runechild smiled at the sensation of it.

“Oh, right.” Alby sprinkled flour over the dough. “That will make it less sticky.”

Beginning to roll the dough, The Runechild couldn’t help the big smile on their face. Everything perfect. They didn’t even know that such perfection could exist, but apparently it did. The Runechild turned to Alby only to see a strange expression on his face.

“Those marks on the back of your hands. Where did they come from?” Alby asked. His voice was soft and gentle but it covered something.

The Runechild pulled their hands away from the dough. They had forgotten all about the silver runes that the gloves hid. The runes that gave them their name. Ducking their head, they braced themselves for whatever came next their eyes screwed tight.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Or do they hurt? Do you need ice or something for them?” Concern dripped from Alby’s voice.

The Runechild opened their eyes to see Alby there hovering. He looked confused, but he didn’t seem mad or anything.

Alby bit his lip and fingerspelled, “I’m sorry. What can I get you?”

“They don’t hurt,” the Runechild signed. “I was born with them.”

“Really? They’re very nice looking. Did your parents have them too?” Alby asked.

The Runechild shrugged. “I don’t know. I never knew them.”

“Oh.” Alby said that part out loud. “So you were adopted?” he asked spelling it out by hand. It was a slow way for a conversation, but the Runechild liked it and it seemed like Alby did too.

The Runechild shook their head.

“I’m sorry,” he signed. His face was so incredibly sincere. It was like what he felt was written on his face, but just not always in a language the Runchild knew. They’d like to learn it though, but it felt like that language was saved for someone else. Maybe it was reserved for his enormous family.

“It’s okay,” they signed. The Runechild turned back to the dough. “Are we still making this?”

Alby smiled and went back to rolling the dough next to the ruin child. Once the dough was all the right length and thickness, Alby braided the three pieces together and then bathed it in butter making it all shiny.

There was a knock on the closed door over the window and Alby opened. “Hi Alby,” the giant of a chef said. The Runechild stepped behind Alby, but the chef still seemed to notice them behind him just like the night before. “Making pies today.”

“Need me to make the dough?” Alby asked.

“If you don’t mind,” the chef said.

Alby shook his head. “Not at all. I was just finishing up the second batch to bread. I don’t mind making the dough. The tins are on this side anyways. What kind are you making?”

“Cherry.”

“That’s Harley’s favorite,” Alby said. He paused for a moment “If you have any extra, do you mind setting some aside for me?”

The chef smiled. It was a slow and easy smile. “Not at all. Now are you going to introduce me properly to your guest?”

“Oh right!” Alby’s cheeks turned faintly purple. It was cute. “Runechild, this Caduceus Clay, he’s in charge of the main kitchens. Cad, this is the Runechild. Harley brought them home with him.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Caduceus siad.

The Runechild just nodded at him their eyes never leaving him.

“Oh, one more thing,” Caduceus said, “are you planning on going to the dining hall for lunch or are you just making hand pies again?”

“Well, if you don’t mind, I was thinking of hand pies. If you have anything to fill them with leftover,” Alby said.

Caduceus was already passing a bowl of something through the window and Alby took it. “Here you go.”

“Thanks Cad.”

“You’re welcome.” The giant chef closed the window.

Alby set the bowl down of the counter. “Let’s make some pies.”

* * *

Harley groaned at his desk. There was a horrid pile of papers and laws and inquiries all demanding his signature or opinion. Being a lord was not his idea of fun, but someone had to inherit Papa’s portion of the Zemni Fields. Originally, it was supposed to be a split responsibility between Harley and Alby, but Harley received Papa saying that the lordship would now be completely Harley’s. It was a powerful position true, but one that would be tricky to balance with traveling as a diplomat. Meanwhile, Alby was just staying in the basement baking.

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. Alby opened it not bothering to wait for an answer. “What are you doing here?” Harley asked with more than a hint of a glare.

“I wanted to talk about something,” Alby said. He held something wrapped in a napkin carefully.

“Well, I’m busy. Come back later.” Harley turned back to his desk.

Alby sighed. “But this will be cold later and it would be a shame to not try it when it’s fresh.” Harley turned to see his brother unwrap a hand pie. A cherry hand pie.

“You can just leave it here.” Harley had to resist the temptation to drool at it. Cherry had always been his favorite.

“After we talk.”

Harley huffed. “Later.”

Alby shrugged. “I’ll just have it then.”

“If you have a hand pie here, that means there’s either more in the kitchens or that there are full sized pies,” Harley said calling his younger brother’s bluff.

“Okay, I was wanting a snack.” Alby moved the pie closer to his mouth.

Harley held up a hand. “Fine, if you want to talk so much, we can talk. What is this about?”

“What do you know about the Runechild?” Alby asked.

“Wait, where is the Runechild?” Harley said. He hadn’t realized that Alby was alone until that moment. “I left them with you.”

Alby snorted. “They’re with Papa in the library. I’m not irresponsible. The Runechild likes it when things are slow and quiet, and that’s Papa.”

Harley relaxed some. “Ok, so what did you want to know about the Runechild?”

“They had these strange markings on the back of their hands. They almost looked like letters? All the Runechild said about them was that they always had them.”

Sometimes the denseness of Alby was mystifying. “Those are runes. Do you not know what a runechild is? It’s basic history.”

Alby turned his head away huffing. “I don’t have to give you the pie. History wasn’t my best subject.”

“Hey, you said if we talked, I get the pie. No take backs,” Harley said.

“Fine.” Alby set the pie down on the desk. The pie was quickly snatched up by Harley. “What is the, a, runechild?”

Harley quickly swallowed the bite of pie in his mouth. It would’ve been better to savor it, but Alby wasn’t giving him that chance. “Right, so a runechild. Legend tells us that magic once filled this world. It was once everywhere and the greatest sources and users of magic were runechildren. But then the magic dried up. All sources of magic disappeared except for runechildren.”

“So the Runechild’s magic?” Alby asked dumbstruck.

With a scoff, Harley shook his head. “Hardly. Runechildren are still being born and have all the runes and markings that those of the past did, but without any of the power. There are those that believe that runechildren hold the key to bring back magic, though.”

Alby frowned. “And do they?”

“I don’t really know or care. Add that to the fact that some folk consider them to be bearers of great luck, and runechildren are incredibly valuable.” Harley left the last bit in the air expecting Alby to pick up on the hint.

“How old is the Runechild?” Alby asked completely ignoring the hint.

Harley had to fight the urge to groan. “Well, according to their paperwork, they’re 23.”

“Paperwork?”

“What do you know about how I met the Runechild?” Harley asked. He took another bite of his pie. It was a story that always turned his mouth to ash, so he wanted to enjoy as much of his pie as he could before he told it again.

Alby frowned a little bit. “Lina said something about rescuing them from pirates, but I’m not sure if I’m supposed to believe that.”

“No that’s true. The ship I was returning home in was really attacked by pirates.”

Alby rolled his eyes. “Of course it was.”

“It’s not like I asked for us to be attacked by pirates!” Harley snapped. “It just happened. Anyways, we were attacked, and I helped the crew fight and capture the pirates.”

“Of course you did.”

Harley glared at his younger brother. "Do you want to know the full story or not?"

Alby looked away. "Go on."

"We searched the pirates ship. It had everything you'd expect from a pirate's ship. Gold, jewels, stolen booty, but it also had a hidden room." Harley left out the fact that he was the one who found the hidden room. That would only make Alby balk more. "It had a cage in it."

"So?" Alby asked. "They had some animal or something?"

Bile rose in Harley's throat at the memory of it, but he forced it back down. "Or something. The Runechild was in it."

"What?!" Alby shouted his large fists clenched tight.

"The pirate's captain and only a few others knew about them from what I could tell. The captain must’ve thought the Runechild would bring them good luck or was transporting them to be sold," Harley said. "The paperwork for the Runechild was there."

The blood ran from Alby's face. "That's the second time you mentioned paperwork."

Harley turned away. "That's the thing. Runechildren aren't seen as people legally, but as property."

"What do you mean property?" Alby grabbed Harley's shoulder and forcibly turned him around his fist raised high ready to punch him.

"Hey! I don't like it any more than you do! There hasn't been a known sighting of a runechild in over a hundred years, maybe even two hundred. The laws are old. No one would've thought to update them." That's what Harley kept telling himself. If anyone known, if his grandmother or mother knew, they would've fought it, would've changed it in a heartbeat. But as it was everyone thought it was an archaic law from an ancient era with no present impact.

Alby's teeth were clenched tight. Harley hadn't even known that Alby was capable of such anger. "So change them."

"That's what I'm working on," Harley said. "But these things take time. Even with Grandmama's and Mama's help, this is going to take time. It's going to be an uphill climb, especially once people know there's a runechild here."

"But the Runechild is safe here," Alby said. If Harley didn't know better, he'd say that there was a threat in his voice.

Harley nodded. "For the most part yes, but if people think that the Runechild's unclaimed they're going to try to take them."

"They're just a person."

"I know that and you know that, but to most people they're just worth a fortune," Harley said. "Even the captain of the ship I was on tried to take the Runechild for herself."

"What?! You didn't let them, did you?" Alby demanded.

Harley stepped back appalled. "Of course not! I wouldn't, B\but I did have to claim dibs."

And for the first time, Harley understood what people meant by calling Alby intimidating. He was the shortest of the brothers and soft, but there was nothing soft about the look on his face. "You did what?"

"We were in the middle of nowhere. I have a little power, but not much. I had to bargain with what they understood. And don't look at me like that. I did what I had to.” Harley sighed. “I had my right to claim any part of the treasure, so I claimed the Runechild. I was the one who found them after all."

Disgust covered Alby's face. "So you just took another person. As property."

"Not as property. As my betrothed," Harley said.

"Your what?"

Harley covered his face with his hands. "My betrothed. That means that they're under my protection and I guess mine in a strange way. It was all I could think of to protect them."

Alby's face went blank. "And what do they think about it?"

"I haven't told them," Harley said. "I've been looking for a loophole to protect them as things stand."

Alby went soft again. "So, you're not going to marry them."

"I might have to. To finalize the protection?" Harley sighed. "If it comes to that, I'll be a good husband. I won't hurt them. And if we can pass laws to insure their rights as a person after the wedding, we'll just annul the marriage then."

"You'll just cast them aside," Alby said.

Harley rolled his eyes. "It's not like that either. This isn't about money or power. This is about protection. I wouldn't shackle the Runechild to me if they don't need my protection. But for now, I'm the only one who can protect them."

Something flickered across Alby's face, but Harley couldn't tell what it was. "Alright then. But I think you should tell them. A person deserves to know that they're engaged. Even if it’s temporary."

"Yeah, I will, but I haven't exhausted every option yet."

Alby started to turn away but stopped. “Can I see the Runechild’s paperwork?”

"I don't know what you expect to find, but sure." Harley unlocked the drawer in his desk and pulled out the paperwork handing it to Alby.

Alby's lips moved as he read over the paperwork. His brow furrowed and he stared at it quietly.

Harley grabbed the papers back. There was no sense in expecting Alby to understand it. "Here, this page here is on the Runechild. Age, health, shots, the sort of thing you'll see on the papers for a horse and dog. And yes, I realize just how terrible this is, but if I don't have it, someone with worse intentions would. So this here is all the legal rights of the owner, and I'm burning it as soon as I can trust me. And the ones in the back are all the different hands that have had the legal ownership of the Runechild."

"There's so many," Alby whispered going through the pages.

Harley sighed loudly. "Yeah, I know. I guess people tend to get rid of the Runechild after their experiments fail.”

"You're just another owner to the Runechild. They’re just going to see you like the rest of their owners,” Alby said.

Slamming his hand on the table, Harley glared at Alby. “I’m nothing like those bastards! I’m going to fix this!"

Alby glared back at him. "You better." He left slamming the door behind him making it shake.

Harley sat down with a groan. He took another bite of his hand bite, but he was right about it tasting like ash in his mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I was dreading writing all these siblings, but it was actually a lot of fun. I'm enjoying these characters and I hope you all like them too.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's ready for baking?!

Alby woke up before the sun, but he always woke up before the sun. Bakers had to get up early to make sure the bread and everything was ready for breakfast. Yawning, he went down the hall towards the kitchen when a door opened stopping him. It was rare for anyone else to be awake in this part of the castle so early.

The Runechild stood at the door. They looked rumpled and were nodding a little, but they stared at Alby.

"Is everything okay?" Alby spelled.

They nodded with a yawn. The Runechild started to fingerspell something, but they kept stopping themselves.

"If you don't know how to say it yet, do you want to come along to the baking kitchen? I can show you some more signs, and maybe that will wake you up a bit more," Alby spelled.

The Runechild nodded. It was more enthusiastic than usual and their hair bounced about.

Alby grinned. He was finding that he loved their company and wanted more of it. "Okay," he said out loud. "Let's go."

It was getting familiar to have the Runechild cling to his shirt sleeve. Luckily, Alby tended to like his sleeves like even if he had to roll them up for baking. The halls of the palace were dark for the most part. Alby could practically walk the entire way to the baking kitchen with his eyes closed, but he went slowly and carefully with the Runechild. “Watch your step,” he said when the two of them got to the stairs.

He went through the baking kitchen lighting the lamps, adding logs to the barely awake embers, and then did the same in the main kitchen. After stoking the main fire, Alby swiveled a large pot of porridge over the flame to start it cooking.

The Runechild watched him occasionally yawning and nodding only to jerk up suddenly. “Are you still tired? You can go back to your room if you want,” Alby spelled.

They shook their head without a pause. “I want to be here,” the Runechild signed.

“I want you to be here too,” Alby said, “but if you need more sleep, you should sleep.”

The Runechild hung down their shoulders and nodded.

Alby went to the closet and pulled out a small cot. "I don't like leaving the kitchen sometimes and mornings start early here. So naps. Um, you can use it when you want. If you want."

The Runechild stared at it and then nodded. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Alby began pulling out what he needed for the morning's baking when he paused. "Runechild," he spelled, "can I give you a nickname?"

"A nickname?"

Alby nodded. "It's something a friend would call you. Like a shorter version of your name or just something that makes them think of you."

The Runechild stared at him. "What would you call me?"

"Oh." Alby hadn't fully came up with anything in particular, but the Runechild didn't feel like a name for a person. "How about Runie?"

They spelled out Runie to themself before nodding to Alby.

"Ok, Runie. You can watch or sleep if you'd like. I'm just going to be mixing up dough for now." Alby had two of his giant bowls out.

The Runechild sat on the cot crosslegged watching Alby.

On the menu that morning was a basic soft bread and cinnamon rolls. They shared the same basic dough, but he was going to add something extra to the bread. Alby organized his ingredients and began the process of measuring out everything into each bowl side by side. The kitchen was filled with the soft sounds of snoring as the Runechild fell asleep. He smiled to himself as he added herbs to the bread dough. The cinnamon rolls needed to be baked first, so he kneaded it first punching and folding the dough. Normally there would be several bakers in the kitchen, but during the summer, the head baker retried and right after that the journeyman ran off with their 'one true love' leaving Alby alone to do the baking. Not that he minded at all, but it was a lot of work for just one person and just kneading the cinnamon rolls dough left him sweating. Taking a moment to get a drink of water, Alby checked the main kitchen. No one was in there yet, but it was going to get busy soon.

Getting back to the baking kitchen, Alby wiped his brow and got started on kneading the bread dough. The heat was beginning to build in the oven which was perfect for bread but less so for hot bakers. Meanwhile the Runechild curled up on the cot snoozing. More than a little jealousy build in Alby, but he chose his fate when he decided to become a baker. Clanging came from the main kitchen just as Alby was nearly done fighting the dough.

Alby winced at the sound of it. He had forgotten to close the window’s door. The Runechild sat up rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. “Sorry,” Alby signed. “Did we wake you?”

The Runechild only shrugged staring at him.

“You can go back to sleep if you’d like,” Alby signed.

They shook their head.

“Just let me finish kneading this here and then we can have early breakfast.” He could almost feel the Runechild’s eyes staring at him as he worked with the dough. With a heave and a sigh, he finished the dough and put it back in its bowl to rest. “Let’s get breakfast,” Alby fingerspelled and followed it up with the sign for breakfast.

The Runechild signed it back to him and then followed him out of the baking kitchen. They turned to go up the stairs, but Alby stopped them in time. "It's not time for breakfast up there. Still too early. We have early breakfast in the main kitchen," Alby said.

The Runechild went pale at this. "It's okay," Alby said. "It's mainly just Cad and a few others this early in the morning. Nothing to worry about. And Cad only lets nice people in his kitchen."

"That's not quite true," Cad said from the main kitchen and Alby winced. The firbolg's odd sense of honesty was just going to make the Runechild worry even more. "I let my older sister in here and she's a piece of work."

"Siblings don't count," Alby said. "He's just joking," he signed to the Runechild.

They just stared at the firbolg and clung to Alby's sleeve.

"Um, are you ready to go in?" Alby asked.

The Runechild took a deep breath and nodded.

Alby grinned and led the way through the kitchen to the pot of porridge. "Did I burn it this time?" he asked Cad.

"Not this time." Cad pulled down two clay bowls from the high shelves and handed them to Alby.

Alby balanced them in one hand and filled them both to the top while Cad gave the Runechild two spoons. "Thank you," Alby said.

"You're welcome. Is there anything else you need?" Cad asked.

"Not this time. I've got brown sugar and cinnamon over on the baking side," Alby said.

Cad nodded. "Well, have a good breakfast then."

Alby paused. "Wait, what's the plan for lunch?"

"Vegetable soup."

"I'll make something crusty to go with it then," Alby said over his shoulder going back to the baking kitchen.

The Runechild set down the spoons on the counter while Alby put down the bowls and then closed the window's door. "Do you like brown sugar or cinnamon?" he asked as he dug them out from under the counter. A shrug was all he got from the Runechild when he got back up. "Is that you like them equally, don't like either, or don't know?"

"Don't know," the Runechild fingerspelled.

Alby frowned at this. "Okay. I'll put brown sugar in one and cinnamon in the other and you can try both and see what you like. Does that sound good?"

The Runechild stared at him.

"I'll get them started then," Alby said uncertainly. He stirred in the brown sugar into the first bowl and ground some cinnamon into the second one. "Go on, give it a try."

Cautiously, the Runechild tried a bite of the brown sugar porridge and smiled a little. Then they took a bite of the cinnamon one. They stared at the bowl.

"Do you not like it?" Alby asked. "You can have the other if you liked it better."

The Runechild hugged the cinnamon porridge to themself eating it quickly.

A laugh escaped from Alby. "I'm glad you like it. Good thing that I made cinnamon rolls today."

“Cinnamon rolls? Are you trying to get on Una’s good side?” Harley asked at the door. He was fighting a yawn.

“I like cinnamon rolls too, but yes, I might be trying to keep her in a good mood,” Alby said. “What are you doing up so early?” Seeing Harley before breakfast(well, upstairs breakfast) was a rare sight.

Harley shrugged. “It’s more like up so late. Couldn’t sleep.” Now that he mentioned it, he looked worn and haggard. Darker blue bags were under his pure purple eyes and his normally perfect blue hair was a curly mess around his horns.

“What are you doing here then? You should be sleeping,” Alby said as he ate his porridge.

“The Runechild was missing and this seemed the most likely place to find them,” Harley said. “And I was right.”

The Runechild stepped closer to Alby. They stared at Harley, but Alby couldn’t quite read their expression.

“Sorry,” Alby said, “I didn’t think to tell anyone that Runie was helping me.”

“Runie?” Harley asked.

The Runechild nodded. “Alby gave me a ni-” they started to sign, but Harley wasn’t even looking at them.

“Is that some sort of nickname?” Harley asked.

Alby had to keep himself from making some sort of smart comment. Not that he was any good at them. “Yes. I thought it was a good idea,” he said weakly.

“Huh,” Harley said. “You really do have something going here with them.”

The Runechild took another step behind Alby. “I like Alby,” they spelled.

Alby grinned at them. “I like you too,” he quickly spelled back before turning to Harley. “Is there anything that you needed? You said that you were looking for them. Did you needed to talk to them?” He hoped that would be the case. Even if the marriage didn’t go through, the Runechild deserved to know what Harley was up to.

“Nah. I mean there’s something that I needed to discuss, but that can wait until breakfast,” Harley said.

“There’s porridge ready in the main kitchen. You can have breakfast now,” Alby said.

Harley laughed. “No, I don’t really have time. There’s something I needed to check in the library before breakfast anyways. I will see you both there, right?”

Alby started to nod, but then stopped and looked towards the Runechild. “Do you want to go to upstairs breakfast later?” he asked fingerspelling it out.

“Will your family be there?” the Runechild asked.

“Yeah, it’s rare for any of us to skip meals,” Alby said. “Well, except Papa, but that’s because he’s too busy reading to remember to eat.” That was the official story, but Alby had a feeling that it was more complicated than that. Papa’s health was never good, and now that Alby was an adult, he was starting to realize just what that meant.

The Runechild frowned a little then nodded. “Upstairs breakfast is okay with me,” they spelled out.

“Yeah, we’ll be at breakfast later.”

“Finally,” Harley groaned. “It takes so long when you spell everything out like that.”

Alby shrugged. “It’s how they talk.”

Harley rolled his eyes. “I know, I know. Just like when you were a kid, I get it. Well, I’ll see you later then.” He left the baking kitchen with little wave.

“Bye.” Alby stared after him for a moment before turning back to the Runechild. “Do you like him?”

They stared at him confused.

“What I mean is. Hmm, how to put this? Do you like being around Harley?” Alby asked.

The Runechild bit their lip and stared at the ground.

“It’s okay. I don’t always like being around him either. I mean, I know he’s a good guy, but he’s my brother so I’ve seen plenty of his bad side. But he is a good person,” Alby said. “You’re lucky that he found you.”

“I know that. But I like being around you,” the Runechild signed.

He could feel his face growing hot and he didn’t know where to look. “I should check the dough.” He turned away, taking in a deep breath. A smile crept over Alby’s face. The Runechild preferred being with him. No one had ever said that before. Everyone prefered Harley and his easy charm. But even if they preferred Harley, Alby would still enjoy the Runechild’s company. There was more to being with the Runechild than just one upping Harley. Alby poked at the dough for the cinnamon rolls. “They’ll need a few more minutes. We’ll start the dough for the second batch of bread now.”

The Runechild nodded. “Can I help?”

“Of course.” Alby got out another giant bowl and paused. Not once when they were talking did Harley address the Runechild directly. He sighed. All he could hope was that Harley found a solution that did not involve marrying the Runechild.

* * *

The Runechild didn’t understand how Alby did it. They didn’t understand a lot of the things he did, how he could be so big and surrounded by so much noise and still be so gentle and quiet. But in particular, the Runechild didn’t understand how he could throw together a random selection of things and then suddenly have dough. It was basic baking and cooking, the Runechild knew that much, but there was something special about the way he did it.

He finished mixing the dough and set it aside.

“Don’t you need to knead it?” the Runechild asked.

Alby shook his head. “Not for this kind of dough. Kneading it makes it too tough.”

The Runechild frowned. They liked watching him knead. His arms were fascinating to watch. He grabbed one of the bowls of dough from earlier and dumped it onto the counter. Alby grabbed a large rolling pin and used it to roll the dough out into shape. It wasn’t as good as watching him knead, but it was still nice.

Once the dough was all rolled out, Alby spread a filling over it and then rolled up the entire sheet of dough. “I’m going to use my knife again, is that okay?” he signed asking the Runechild.

They stared at him. He kept asking them questions like their opinion was important, and the strange thing was the Runechild was starting to think that he actually believed it was. As if someone like Alby would care what the Runechild thought. Not only was he a prince, but he made amazing things. It was hard to think that he actually cared about a thing like the Runechild. The Runechild finally nodded as Alby stood there waiting for them to say something.

“Alright,” Alby said. He grabbed the same larger blade he used the day before and sliced the rolled dough into round slices. Once he placed them on a sheet, he spread a towel over it and set them aside. Alby then cut the other blob of dough into chunks like he did the day before, but this dough was speckled unlike the other dough. “Do you want to help shape the bread?”

The Runechild nodded without hesitation.

Alby laughed and passed the first round of dough to the Runechild. “It takes a little practice to get used to, but it’s also fun.” He punched and kneaded the dough a little bit before shaping it into a round loaf.

The Runechild pressed down on the dough. It squished in their hands. The dough was soft, squishy, and smelled of all the good things in the world. They folded it over and over pushing it into shape and then folded it down again. Peace filled them as they repeated the process again and again.

“You don’t have knead it too much. Looks like it’s ready to be shaped into the loaf,” Alby signed.

Frowning, the Runechild formed the loaf. They weren’t ready to be done with the process, but they didn’t want to disappoint Alby either.

Once they finished with the loaf, Alby took it with a smile. “Perfect.”

A warmth spread through the Runechild. Alby handed them another hunk of dough and they got to work on it. The Runechild could see why Alby liked being in the baking kitchen surrounded by dough. Everything was perfect down there. It wasn’t real, nothing so nice could be real, but it was perfect. They pulled on the dough watching it stretch, but then it tore apart. A fear clenched their chest. They’d done it wrong and now Alby was going to be mad at them.

“Oh, that happens sometimes. Just mush it back together and keep kneading. That’ll fix it,” Alby said. He was working on his fourth loaf.

Nodding, the Runechild folded the dough back together. There was a satisfaction to. They pulled at the dough again seperating a small bit. The runechild rolled it into a perfectly round ball and then folded it back into the dough. It was fun to see how it could be taken apart and put back together again like nothing had happened to it. Dough was perfect in a way that the Runechild could never be.

Alby stared at them with a strange half frown on his face. “Hmm,” he said with a furrow in his brow. “How ‘bout we set that one aside as a special loaf. You can make it look different or however you’d like.”

The Runechild grinned and nodded. The look on Alby’s face made no sense, but they were glad to work with the dough. First, the Runechild tore the dough into small pieces and made each piece a small ball, but it made a weird number, so they mashed them all together and rolled out a rope like Alby had the day before, but this one was much longer. The rope was then coiled around itself. A happy little nonsense song filled the room.

“Oh,” Alby whispered almost reverently. “You have a pretty voice.”

The Runechild clapped their hands over their mouth. That was them singing. They thought they had ground out that silly habit. It was something they should’ve grown out of long ago.

“Sorry. I just thought it was pretty,” Alby said. “You can keep singing if you’d like. I won’t say anything.”

They shook their head. Being loud or making any sound meant being punished. Silence was safer. Even if Alby was kind and felt safe, the Runechild could never be certain. It wouldn’t be the first time they trusted the wrong person.

Alby sighed, but he nodded anyways. “Okay then. I used to be the same when I was little. I wouldn’t always talk out loud. That’s why I learned how to sign and fingerspell. Though I guess it’s probably different for you.”

“You didn’t talk either?” the Runchild asked fingerspelling.

“Yeah. I mean I’d talk sometimes, but other times my mouth would just lock up,” Alby said.

The Runechild stared at him. “Did you want to talk?”

“Sometimes?” Alby shrugged. “There were times where it would’ve saved me a lot of trouble. But sometimes I liked being quiet. I had trouble talking back then.”

“I can’t talk.” Talking only led to trouble. “Not out loud.”

Alby nodded. “That’s okay.”

The two of them went back to working with the dough in silence. It was nice, but a small part of the Runechild wished that they had the courage to fill that silence with words. Words just for Alby.

* * *

Harley held his head in his hands softly repeating the same curse over and over again. He closed his eyes and opened them in hopes that the words in the book he had been staring at had changed, but he had no such luck. Another curse left his mouth. “I’m getting married.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I'm updating the tags. Una's pregnancy became a bit more important than I had initially planned.
> 
> This chapter's a bit shorter, but I hope that you all like it.

Alby had mixed feelings when it came to upstairs breakfast. On the one hand, he usually enjoyed spending time with his family and a break was always welcomed, especially now that he was doing the work of several people, but on the other hand, part of Alby was disappointed to be away from the baking kitchen and sometimes his family was a lot to take in at once. Especially with the Runechild around.

It was strange. He didn’t really have a word for how he felt about the Runechild. Alby liked them, he was certain on that much, but the fact was he hardly knew them. The Runchild was guarded and hid within themself. To say that he knew them would be a lie. But he wanted to get to know them, to let them let their guard down. Beyond that, Alby didn’t know what all he wanted when it came to the Runechild. No, that was a lie, Alby knew that he wanted to hear them sing again.

The Runechild was silent clinging to his sleeve as the two of them entered the dining room. The rest of the family was there already. “Are those cinnamon rolls?” Una asked.

“Yes, but you’re going to have to share them, Runie likes them too,” Alby said.

“Runie?” Papa was already pocketing his book and sitting up.

Alby nodded. “It’s a nickname.”

“Can we call you that?” Mama asked fingerspelling.

The Runechild looked around and frowned before nodding. They sat down next to Alby at the table.

Alby served Una first(he was not foolish enough to keep a pregnant woman waiting) and then the Runechild and himself.

“So, um, when are you due?” Harley asked.

“You don’t know?”

Harley held up his hands. “I’ve been gone for nine months. I didn’t even know you were expecting until a Xhorhasian dignitary was congratulating me on the upcoming addition to the family. So yes, thank you for writing and letting me know what’s all going on with the family.”

“You’ll be seeing your nibling in less than three weeks,” Mama said.

“Unless I can evict them sooner,” Una said. “I still don’t know how you put up with doing this five times.”

Mama shrugged. “Well, it’s the making part that kept us going back for more.”

All four of the oldest Lavorre children groaned in protest. Alby leaned over and covered Lina’s ears.

“Really mother? Right before breakfast? Really?” Oskar asked.

“Well, sometimes it was after breakfast,” Papa added.

More groans. Harley cleared his throat, though his face was still purple. “Um so is your, um, spouse going to be here for it?” There were several questions in the sentence.

“He’s not my husband,” Una said rolling her eyes.

“Consort?”

Una sighed. “He’s not my consort either. Adoril and I have mutually politically beneficial arrangement and nothing more than that.” Alby had his doubts about that, especially since he had walked in on them giggling and kissing in a closet three months ago, but he wasn’t going to say anything. He did not have a death wish.

“Ah,” Harley said. “So speaking about marriage, I’m getting married soon.”

Everyone stared at Harley. A sick feeling filled Alby’s stomach, but he didn’t say anything.

“Seriously? You of all people getting married?” Oskar asked.

“It’s not that unlikely,” Harley said.

Una snorted. “It’s not going to last.”

Mam gave Una a disapproving look. “Una. Place bets away from the table.”

“Stranger things have happened,” Papa said drily.

“You all have such great faith in me.” Harley rolled his eyes. “I don’t see why this is so unbelievable.”

Lina leaned forward. “Who is it?! Do I know them?”

Harley nodded and Alby’s stomach sunk lower. “The Runechild.”

It was like all air left the room. Alby’s stomach dropped. Harley was actually going through with it, he didn’t find a way out of it. The room was silent for a moment before a din erupted. Everyone was talking at once.

Next to Alby, the Runechild went pale. They gripped the sides of their chair tightly and trembled.

“Did you know about this?” Alby signed to the Runechild while the rest of the family continued their loudness.

They shook their head.

Alby glared at Harley. Una was also glaring at him.

“Are you joking?” Oskar asked. “If you are, the punchline could use work.”

Harley shook his head. “No, I’m serious.”

“Wait, so you rescued them from pirates and now you’re getting married? That’s trite,” Lina said.

“How do you even know that word? You’re nine,” Harley said.

“I’m nearly twelve and I’ve been reading with Papa.” Lina stuck her tongue at him.

Mama grinned. “I don’t know. I’d read a novel with that plot.”

“And you have. Eight times I believe,” Papa said. “Thirteen if you include how many times you’ve reread _The Captain’s Booty_.”

“When’s the wedding?” Una asked.

Harley fiddled with his handkerchief. “I don’t know? I haven’t figured that part out yet. It will need to be soon though. A quiet affair.”

Alby kept an eye on the Runechild. They were huddled up in their chair. This was all for the Runechild’s safety, Alby knew that. But the whole affair made him sick to his stomach. “I need to go,” he signed to the Runechild.

“Can I come?” the Runechild asked.

Alby nodded and nearly knocked his chair over when he got up. All eyes were now on him. “Um, I should get back to the baking kitchen.”

“Without breakfast?” Mama asked. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. Harley’s marrying the Runechild to keep them safe from kidnappers or something,” Alby blurted out. His face turned hot and before anyone could say anything, he hurried away.

The Runechild followed after him holding onto his shirtsleeve.

“I’m sorry,” Alby mumbled not daring to look at the Runechild. “I’m sorry.” He couldn’t think of anything better to say.

As they got close to the stairs for the kitchens, Alby bumped into someone. “Oh, sorry.”

There glaring at him was Algar. The Runechild clung tighter to Alby’s sleeve. “You should pay better attention to where you’re going.”

“Of course,” Alby said stiffly. It shouldn’t have surprised him to see the lord there, but he couldn’t help but remember what happened at the ball. “We must be going.”

“Oh of course,” Algar said. Something about how he was looking at them didn’t sit right with Alby, but he must’ve been imagining it. There was no way Algar would try anything after what happened the last time.

That didn’t stop Alby from quickening his pace though.

* * *

_KKT SLAP! KKT SLAP! KKT SLAP! KKT SLAP! KKT SLAP!_

The Runechild sat on the cot watching Alby as he forcefully cut the dough into chunks. He’d been at this since he entered the baking kitchen(though he did ask the Runechild before he grabbed his blade). “I can’t believe him. I told him to talk to you. I really did. But, he’s just not a listener. Harley’s a doer, so he just goes ahead and does what he thinks is best without talking to anyone. It’s not a bad thing usually. The world needs doers, but it’s not fair. What he did is not fair to you, you know that right?” Alby turned towards the Runechild.

Dutifully, the Runechild nodded. It was odd. Alby was angry, that was easy to see, but the Runechild wasn’t afraid. Usually someone being mad meant nothing but trouble for the Runechild, yet they just quietly watched Alby as he worked and ranted. WIth anyone else, the Runchild would’ve been hiding. Maybe it was because for the first time someone was angry for their sake.

“He should’ve talked to you first. He didn’t have any right to just spring this on you. People are supposed to be asked when it comes to getting married. You can’t just tell somebody that you’re marrying them.” Alby kinished cutting the dough and set the blade down. “You have the right to say no to this. I hope you realize this. He’s trying to keep you safe, but you can say no.”

The Runechild just stared at him. Harley saved them, and Harley held their contract. They couldn’t argue with him.

Alby sighed. “I’m sorry. Harley’s a good person, he just doesn’t always listen. He’ll be a good husband though, probably, and he’ll keep you safe. He was clever to think of this loophole.” He turned back to the dough and started forming loaves.

The Runechild crept off the cot. It was dangerous to be near angry people no matter why they were angry, but it seemed like his frustration had bled out and it wasn’t in the Runechild to be afraid of Alby. They stepped up on the stool next to Alby and rolled the dough next to him.

“Thanks. I hope that-” Alby huffed out a sigh. “Do you think you’ll be happy with him?”

They shrugged. Happiness was never a thing that they had expected to have.

“Well, you deserve to be happy, and I really hope you know that,” Alby said.

A silence hung over them as the Runechild stared up at Alby. The statement weighed heavily in their heart. Gathering all their nerve, the Runechild placed their hand on Alby’s arm, gave it a quick squeeze, and then drew it away.

Alby gasped softly. “Thank you,” he whispered. His eyes were soft with emotion.

The Runechild nodded and stared at the dough in front of them tears welling in their eyes. They were in love. They were in love, and they were going to marry his brother.

* * *

The door to Harley’s study opened for the fourth time that day without his permission. “I don’t even know why I bother closing it,” he said as Lina plopped down on a chair. “Are you here to lecture me too?”

Lina shrugged. “I don’t know. Everyone's acting weird about you getting married.”

“I’m very aware of that,” Harley said.

“But they won’t say why,” Lina said. “I thought people are supposed to be happy about marriages and stuff.”

Harley snorted. “You’ve never been to a political wedding then.”

“Mama and Papa’s wedding was political. Mama had to marry Papa to be queen,” Lina said.

“That’s the part of the story that stood out to you?” Harley asked.

Lina huffed. “No, there’s also the exciting bits like poisoning and Aunt Beau arresting the gross old lord.”

Harley had to stop himself from laughing. “And not Mama and Papa falling madly and deeply in love?”

“People fall in love all the time. It’s not that special. Not like being framed for a terrible crime and narrowly escaping a gruesome death,” Lina said.

Harley shook his head bemused. “Well, I can’t really argue against that.”

“So, tell me, why is everyone being so weird now?” Lina asked.

“I wish I knew.” Truth be told, he blamed it on Alby just blurting out his reasons for getting married. Alby made it sound so crude. But even after Harley explained everything, everyone was still on edge about the wedding. “They’re questioning my intentions.”

Lina looked up at her brother. “And should they be questioned?”

“Since when did you start going about asking such wise questions?” Harley asked.

“I’d say sometime around winter while you were gone,” Una said at the door. “Around when she started communing with the Traveler.”

Harley got up in a hurry. “What are you doing? You should be resting.” He quickly escorted Una to his chair.

Una rolled her eyes. “I’m pregnant not made out of eggshells.”

“You should still be careful,” Harley said. “What even brings you here?”

“I wanted to to talk to you,” Una said.

Harley had to suppress the urge to groan. “You and everyone else.”

“Harley’s very popular today, and it’s still my turn to talk to him,” Lina said kneeling on her chair.

With a roll of his eyes, Harley lifted Lina up off of the chair. It wasn't as easy as it was before he left. "Oof, I thought I told you to stop getting so big. You're supposed to be my little sister forever."

"Nuhuh," Lina said. "I'm supposed to get older and bigger."

"No, I strictly forbid it," Harley said.

Lina groaned. "Una, tell him that I have to grow up."

Una shrugged. "Sorry, but she does have a point. All little girls grow up sooner or later."

"A real shame. Pretty soon I won't be able to carry you any more," Harley said.

"That's okay, Alby can. He can even carry Una." There was something about that know-it-all tone coming out of the youngest of them that was a touch infuriating.

Harley huffed. "So that's why you keep him around."

"Don't say that," Una said.

"And here comes big sister Una to save poor little Alby again," Harley said rolling his eyes again.

Una glared at him. "Hey, it's not like that. It's been a rough year for him."

Lina tapped Harley's shoulder. "If you two are going to fight, can you at least put me down? I have better things to do."

"Are we going to fight?" Harley asked.

"It depends," Una said.

Harley placed Lina on the ground. "There you go."

Lina stuck her tongue out at him and ran off with a giggle.

"I don't know if I want to give her a sweet or lock her in her room," Harley said.

Una shrugged. "I usually just send her down to 'help' Alby. It's the same as doing both."

"So what was it that you wanted to talk about?" Harley asked even though he already knew the answer.

"Have you thought any of this through? You getting married?" Una asked. "You told me just before leaving that you were never getting married and that you couldn't imagine a worse fate."

Harley sighed. "Things changed. Look, this isn't some knee jerk romantic decision."

"No it's a knee jerk heroic decision," Una said. "Have you given this any thought?"

"Of course I did," Harley snapped. "I've been pouring over every law book and every other book on runechildren I could find. Did you know that they're considered property? If I don't have them processed under my name, anyone could just take them."

Una frowned. "Thus marriage."

"Yeah, there's no way I'd just claim them as property," Harley said. "I'm not a monster."

"No, you're not, but you are a jerk," Una said.

Harley stared at her. "Well, that's hardly called for. What did I do this time?"

Una sighed heavily. "I saw Alby asking the Runechild a question." There was something very pointed about the statement.

"And what pray tell did he ask?"

"If you had told the Runechild about the engagement." Una glared hard at him. "Was this morning really the first time you told them about your plan to marry them?"

Harley looked away. "I've been busy. I was hoping for some loop hole or something, but it wasn't the case. It's just a matter of paperwork. It's not going to be a real marriage, but I will take care of them."

"Unbelievable," Una said.

"What's unbelievable?" Harley asked. "I am doing the best I can do in this situation. I'm going to keep them safe."

"What's unbelievable is that someone as thick as you are is a great diplomat," Una said. “You’re making a mess of everything and expecting Alby to clean it up.”

Harley snorted. “I’m not expecting Alby to do anything.”

Una raised her eyebrows. “Really? Then why is he always the one with the Runechild?”

“I told you, I’ve been busy. And it’s not like the Runechild minds,” Harley said.

“And what happens after you’re married? Do you expect Alby to still watch over them all the time? Do you think it would even be safe to stay here?” Una asked. “Word’s going to spread about them.”

Harley frowned. He didn’t want to admit that he’d been worrying about that. “I’ll figure something out.”

“They can’t stay here, and you can hardly go out in the spotlight like you’ve been doing as a diplomat,” Una said. “You’re going to have to find some anonymous hole to hide in and you’re going to hate every second of it.”

It was true, Harley knew it was, but there was no way he was going to give her that satisfaction. “Then what should I do? There’s no other option. Even if you change the laws, it’s going to take a long time.”

“I know that, but maybe you don’t have to be the one to marry them. “

“Who then? Anyone who’s hired to do it could easily betray the Runechild. You don’t think I thought about it just being someone else?” Harley asked. “There’s no one who can be trusted for this.”

Una sunk down in her chair and looked away. “There’s always Alby,” she mumbled.

“Alby? Please. First off, there’s no way he could make it out in the world on his own. It would just chew him up and spit him out. Second, how do you expect him to protect the Runechild? For all his training, he's miserable with a sword and can't fight to save even his own life. And finally, Alby's an idiot and hopeless," Harley said.

Una stood up. "You just don't like the idea of anybody else being the hero. It's always you that has to be the center of attention!"

"It's not like that and you know it. Alby's just hopeless, but everyone is too busy protecting his feelings to notice!" Harley shouted. "I can expect that from Mama and Papa, but I thought you had a clearer mind than that. All he's suited for it to stay in the basement."

"Would it kill you to give him a little credit?! He-" Una stopped short looking incredibly pale.

Harley was instantly by her side. "What's the matter?"

"The baby's coming," she said in a small voice.

"What now? Are you sure?" Harley asked.

Una nodded stiffly and pointed at the puddled at her feet. "You're going to be an uncle."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHH!!! This is the last chapter! After this there will be an epilogue! I really hope you like this despite its imperfections!

Alby stared at the counter vaguely not noticing what was there. Ever since Una went into labor, he'd been baking and now every surface of the baking kitchen was covered with bread, muffins, cake, cookies and every other goodie he could think of. It was now nearly time for upstairs breakfast and he hadn't slept a wink that night. He was too full of nerves, but he wouldn’t be helpful upstairs, so he was down in the basement baking.

A sound came from the open doorway, and Alby jerked his head up blinking trying to clear his mind. It was the Runechild. "I was waiting for you," they signed.

"Oh, sorry, I couldn't sleep and came in early," he signed back. "I should've told you."

The Runechild shook their head. "It's okay."

Alby yawned. "Want a snack?"

They nodded.

"Okay, take your pick. I also have some danishes in the oven if you'd like them better. They're blueberry," Alby said.

The Runechild stared at all the baked goods before grabbing a cinnamon bearclaw.

"Those are Mama's favorite," Alby said before yawning again.

"You should sleep," The Runechild signed.

Alby nodded and then stared at them. It was the first time the Runechild suggested anything to him. "Oh, am I that tired looking?"

The Runechild nodded not looking at him.

"Oh, you might have a point there.” He sighed. “I know there's nothing to worry about, but I'm still worried. It's taking forever for the baby to come," Alby said. “And I bake when I’m worried.”

“Can you bake when you’re tired?” the Runechild asked.

Alby shook his head. “Probably not.” He let the Runechild lead him over to the cot. Sitting on the cot, he had to incline his head a little bit to look at the Runechild. They looked nearly as tired as he was. “Looks like you could use some sleep too. We can share the cot if you’d like.” The words came out of his mouth before he could think about them.

The Runechild stared at him for a long time and Alby regretted ever opening his mouth. But then they nodded.

“Oh, okay then,” Alby said softly. He scooted over, giving the Runechild room to get into the cot. “You can have the inside. You can’t fall off that way. And we can sleep back to back, so you don’t have to worry about anything.”

Nodding, the Runechild climbed into the cot next to Alby. If Alby was a smaller man, the two of them would’ve fit the cot comfortably, but as it was, it was a tight fit. Alby could already feel his eyelids growing heavier as he laid down. “Goodnight,” he whispered.

Behind him, Alby could feel the Runechild shifting. “Can’t sleep?” he asked. They grabbed the back of his shirt and held on to it. "It's okay. Una's gonna be alright. Everything's going to be okay."

Soft sniffling filled the air. Alby was tempted to roll over to face the Runechild, but he resisted. The Runechild probably wouldn't like that. "Are you okay?" he asked. "I'm sorry if I did something to upset you. Is there something I can do for you?" Just more sniffling. "It's okay if you want to cry, though. Mama says that sometimes that's the only way you can feel better. And you don't have to worry about me telling anybody. I don't like people knowing I cried either."

The Runechild pressed their forehead into Alby's back. "Okay, it's okay. I'm here. I'm here." He didn't know if he was helping or not, but he had to try.

"Thank you," a soft voice whispered behind him.

Alby froze. They spoke, the Runechild actually spoke to him. Their voice was small and a little rusty, but Alby liked it. "You're welcome," he whispered back. "Let's try to get some sleep, shall we? It's probably going to be a wild day ahead of us.”

The Runechild moved behind him and he could only guess that it was a nod. His heart was warm and cold at once. All he wanted was to stay there with the Runechild for the rest of always, but he knew that that was impossible. But for now he could pretend as he went to sleep.

* * *

The Runechild woke up to a soft knocking sound. They were groggy and something heavy rested on top of them. Part of them was tempted to go back asleep since they were comfortable and warm, but something beneath them shifted and moved. Blinking, they opened their eyes and then froze. Beneath them was Alby and the heavy thing on top of the Runechild was his arm.

He was waking up slower than they were, but the Runechild wasn't fast enough to get off of him before he was awake. "Runie?" he mumbled. Alby blinked a few more times before he seemed to comprehend the situation. "Oh." Trying to move away he fell off the cot. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

The Runechild shook their head. Alby could never hurt them. The thought made them freeze. Once they wouldn't dare believe that anyone was truly safe, but now they couldn't believe that Alby could ever hold any danger in him.

"Oh good. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable," Alby said.

Another shake of their head. The truth was it was comfortable in Alby's arms. The Runechild had daydreamed about it before and it was better than they dared imagine. But they were engaged to his brother and nothing could happen with Alby. Though Alby would probably never be interested in the Runechild. Not in that way. Alby probably could have his choice of anyone he wanted, and he deserved someone who wasn't broken and was actually a person.

There a came another knock from the door on the window. Alby got up and answered it. Cad poked his head through the window. “Hope I wasn’t bothering you, but it’s time for breakfast upstairs. Are you planning on going up?”

“Yeah, probably should,” Alby said with a sigh. “We’ll bring buns with us. You can take the rest for breakfast or lunch or anything.”

The giant chef smiled. “That’s a good idea. We have more than enough for the rest of the day. Maybe even the next two days. You should take a break.”

Alby frowned, but he nodded anyways. “Perhaps. I’ll see you later Cad.”

The Runechild followed Alby closely as the two of them went upstairs both of them carrying baskets of baked goods. There was liitle pockets of activity as they passed, but there was a tension like the whole of the castle was holding its breath.

“Maybe they’ll have news about how Una’s doing at breakfast,” Alby said. A frown furrowed his brow though. He was still worried.

The Runechild wanted to say something to cheer him up, but no words came to them as they headed to the family’s dining chambers. They pressed their arm against Alby’s for a short moment and then backed off.

Alby looked at them and grinned slightly. “Yeah, I’m probably just worrying over nothing.”

The hall was empty except for them and their footsteps echoed loudly. The Runechild hurried to keep close to Alby. Something about that hall did not feel right to them. The footsteps grew louder behind them, too loud to merely be the echoes of their own.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” It was the terrible man from the ball.

“We’re just leaving,” Alby said. He stiffened next to the Runechild and stepped between them and the terrible man.

The terrible man grinned and it was like staring at a viper. “Is that so? But I wanted to introduce some friends to you.”

“I’m not interested,” Alby said. “Goodday, Algar.” He took a few steps, but was cut off by some men dressed all in black.

“Oh, but they’re interested in meeting you,” Algar said. The men in black drew out their swords.

Alby cursed. “Get behind me.” He manuevered around the Runechild leaving little space between them and the wall.

Algar laughed. “Now that’s no fun. We just wanted to say hello. We heard some very interesting things about your new friend here. They’re worth quite a fortune, you know.”

“Leave,” Alby said. “Or I’ll do something you’ll regret.” He raised up his hands into fists.

“We outnumber you seven to one,” Algar said. “I don’t know what you could possible do.” Two of the swordsmen got closer.

Alby drew a breath and yelled at the top of his lungs. He punched one of the swordsmen in the head sending him stumbling. Glaring at the second swordsmen, Alby shouted again.

“There’s no using in screaming like that,” Algar said. “There’s no way anyone will hear you. Everyone’s busy with new baby.”

Alby startled upwards, and the second swordsman slashed at him cutting his cheek. Shaking his head, Alby seemed to come to his senses and grabbed the swordsman hand. He squeezed it hard earning a scream from the man and making him drop his sword. Alby grabbed the sword and threw it down the hall away from the men. A stream of curses and shouts continued to spew from Alby’s mouth.

Algar snorted and jerked his head at the rest of the men in black. “Enough playing about. Get them!”

The other three swordsmen surrounded them. Alby snarled at them as two of them cut at him at the same time. He managed to dodge one, but the other slashed him in the side. Blood seeped through his shirt. A whimper escaped the Runechild’s mouth. “It’s okay,” Alby said. “I’ll keep you safe.”

The Runechild nodded but couldn’t help wondering _and who will keep you safe?_

* * *

Harley was late. Though really, was it possible to be late to meet your new niece? It wasn’t like those sorts of things were scheduled. But he was running late for breakfast, and if he hadn’t been, he would’ve been there with the rest of the family for the announcement, so a servant had to go find him in his study and now Harley was going to be the last one to meet his niece. As it was, Harley was running down the halls hoping no one caught him at it.

He slowed down though at a strange sound. It almost sounded like someone shouting, but that made no sense. Most people knew better than to scream in the castle. But there was that sound again. Another shout.

With a sigh, Harley changed his direction. It was probably just nothing, but it would bother him until he found the source. As he got closer the shouts became familiar. Alby. Harley rolled his eyes and picked up his speed wondering just what kind of trouble Alby got himself into this time.

Harley turned the corner and a scream filled the air. His blood went cold at the terror of the scream. At the end of the hal, was a fight. Men cloaked in black holding swords surrounded Alby and there was Algar Dyomin holding the Runechild by their hair. Between Harley and the fight lay a sword on the ground. Snarling, Harley dashed forward picking up the sword as he ran past it. The sword was not much compared to his personal one, but it would do. He stabbed one of the swordsmen in that back causing the man it gasp out in a bloody gurgle and slump to the ground joining one other man lying there.

The other swordmen turned to Harley, swords flashing. Only one’s attention remained on Alby. Harley smiled. It had been boring in the castle and he could do with a challenge. With a flick of his wrist he disarmed the first man to cross swords with him(though it may have been a woman, it was hard to tell with their concealing clothes). He slashed the swordsman’s wrist and thrust his sword into his shoulder. Kicking him off his sword, Harley turned to the next swordsman with a laugh. “Really? Is this all you got?”

“Shut up,” Alby snarled. He was pale, bloody, and barely standing, but he had somehow managed to get his swordsman in a headlock. Already the swordsman was starting to looker bluer than Alby was.

“You’re no fun,” Harley said as he disarmed another one. This one had the sense to run away. Harley ignored them to focus on the last of the standing swordsman. He was almost tempted to draw it out, but his betrothed was in danger. Finishing the man off was a simple act.

Algar was struggling to get the Runechild out of the hall. They hung down like a sack of potatoes and wiggled out of his grasp every time. Harley closed the distance easily and sliced at the Runechild’s hair releasing them from Algar’s grip. The Runechild stared for a moment before dashing away past Harley. “I thought you would’ve learn your lesson by now,” Harley said pointing his sword at Algar.

“You pesky twerps. Can’t you just leave things well enough alone?” Algar spat out.

Harley smirked. “No, not really. Especially when it’s my betrothed you are trying to kidnap. You know this is going to be an interesting story to tell Captain Fjord. I’m sure his husband has plenty of room in the prisons for you.”

“Ha, joke’s on you. There’s no way they’d arrest me,” Algar said. “Nobles are above the law.”

“No one’s above the law. Now, they’re either going to arrest you or arrest me for killing you. What do you chose?” Harley said.

Algar stared at him and his pants became a darker brown. “You wouldn’t.”

Harley glared at him. “Do you really want to test me?”

A moment of silence hung between them. “They’re not going to believe you,” Algar said panic filling his voice.

“Right, because no one would believe a prince who is also a diplomat that successfully brokered peace between two feuding dukes and, oh, is also a lord over lands himself. Completely untrustworthy, that’s what I am.”

Clagning came down the hall and guards entered the scene. “What’s going on here?!”

“Sir Algar here just tried to kidnap my betrothed and hired brigands to murder my brother,” Harley said. He turned to the guards and smiled making sure it was full of fangs. “Now, could do me a favor and take care of him? I need to go check on my brother.” Wiping the blood off the sword, he turned away leaving the guards to their business.

At the far end of the hall, the Runechild knelt next to Alby. He was breathing hard and his shirt was stained with blood. All of him was stained with blood and judging by the cuts all about him most of it was his own. The Runechild pressed a handkerchief of some sort into Alby’s side.

Harley sighed with a grin. “Let’s get you fixed up. Dr. Trickfoot should still be here.” He offered his brother his hand.

Alby stared at Harley dully. He almost looked disappointed, but he took Harley’s hand. With a grunt, Harley managed to get him up.

“There. Now, let’s get you taken care of. After that, the Runechild and I will be leaving. It’s not safe here,” Harley said. “We’ll elope once we’re away from the castle.”

The Runechild tugged on Harley’s sleeve and signed something, but it was too fast for Harley to understand.

“If I can’t see them before we go, let Mama and Papa know that I’m taking care of things,” Harley said. Alby just stared at him. The Runechild was signing again, but Harely turned away looking at Alby. “I’m sorry that things have to be this way, but it will be fine.”

“You never listen,” Alby said.

Harley looked at him. Alby had to lean against the wall. It was going to be tricky getting him to the doctor, but they’d manage. “What?”

“You never listen. You just do whatever you think is best. You don’t care what anyone else thinks or has to say,” Alby said.

“It’s not like that at all. There’ no time to slow down. Their safety is at stake,” Harley said.

Alby snarled. “‘Their safety’. It’s always about their safety, but why do you even care? You haven’t spoken to Runie once this entire time, have you?”

Harley blanched. “It’s been complicated. I’ve been busy.”

“You didn’t even bother trying to find a way to talk to Runie,” Alby said.

“Look! I’m not like you! I’m not good at sign language or finger spelling.” Harley huffed. Alby was just making things more difficult than they needed to be.

Alby glared at him. “All you needed to do was give them a pen and paper you idiot.”

Harley took a step back. It was so simple of a solution he probably should’ve thought of it himself, but there was no point in dwelling on mistakes. “It was a rough time. I didn’t have time to think.” He looked around hoping to see a guard to interrupt the conversation, but they had all left with Algar.

“No, you just didn’t care,” Alby said coldly. “You’re just like the rest of Runie’s owners. Just thinking about yourself and how Runie make you looks. Harley the hero.”

“Take that back.”

Alby drew himself up and stepped away from the wall wobbling. “No.”

“Take that back or you’ll regret it,” Harley said.

“I’ll regret it? The only thing I’ll regret if I let you get away with this,” Alby said.

Harley gripped his hands into fists. “You’re making it sound like I’m as bad as Algar.”

Alby stared Harley in the eye. “You might be.”

“I’m just going to assume that this is just the blood lost talking,” Harley said. “We’ll get you all patched up and you’ll see sense.”

“Then you’re still not listening.”

Harley grabbed Alby by his shirt. The Runechild tugged on Harley’s sleeve, but he ignored them. “I don’t know what you’re playing at, but you’re going to stop it right now.”

Alby gritted his teeth and bashed his head against Harley’s.

“WHAT THE F$%^?!” Harley yelled. Stars swam in front of his eyes. “What’s wrong with you?!”

“You can’t go through with this,” Alby said. He was swaying on his feet.

Harley glared at him. “What is your problem? Do you want me to admit that I could be handling this situation a lot better than I am? Cause yes I know that. I’m doing the best I can with what I got. It’s not like an idiot like you could do any better!” It was a low blow. He knew it as soon as he said it, but somebody had to stop pussyfooting around Alby.

“You think I don’t know that?!” Alby asked. “I’ve known that I’ll never live up to you since I was 12! I’ve known this whole time that I’ll never be as good as you or Una or Oskar or even Lina.” Tears began to run down his face. “You don’t have to remind me.”

Harley took a step back. He’d never seen Alby like this before.

Alby rubbed at his eyes smearing blood across his face. “I’ve tried you know. I’ve actually tried. In the fall while you were gone, I tried. I took over the responsiblities of lord from Papa. I was going to make him proud and I was going to impress you. I couldn’t wait to see the look on your face when you realized how good of a job I did by myself. The Zemni Fields practically took care of themselves, Papa always told us that. We all knew that even an idiot could take care of them. And guess what? Turns out I’m the idiot dumb enough to screw it up!” He was shaking, but Harley had a feeling that it wasn’t just from blood loss. “Papa had to step in and fix everything I managed to screw up. And then he got sick. It was the stress, I know it was. He nearly died and it was all my fault.”

“Oh Alby,” Harley whispered. He had heard about Papa getting sick during the winter, but he was told that it wasn’t too severe and the only concern was that it may take him a long time to completely recover. Though Oskar did write to let Harley not to listen to Alby and that Alby was just worrying about nothing(not that Alby ever wrote except for a messy note slipped in with Mama’s and Papa’s letters).

“No, don’t you dare ‘oh Alby’ me. I get that enough from everyone else. I’m not so fragile.” But the tears and his shaking and all the blood said otherwise. Alby glared at Harley, but it was clear that he was at the end of his rope. “I can take you.” He held up his fists.

It was laughable, but for the first time, Harley saw his brother clearly. This was someone who never gave up. How many times did Harley see Alby stare at the same page of a textbook for hours trying to figure out its secrets? Or keep getting up during sword training even after all his strength was all spent? And how many times did Harley just turn his back thinking that Alby was hopeless?

Harley sighed. “I’m sure you could,” he said softly, “with one arm tied behind your back even.” And in a fair fist fight, that probably was true. “But not until we get you all patched up.” Alby didn’t relax still glaring at Harley. “Can you talk any sense into him?” Harley asked the Runechild.

“Stop,” the Runechild said softly placing a hand on Alby’s arm. All the tension bled out of him immediately.

“You could talk this whole time?” Harley asked.

The Runechild merely shrugged. They turned back to Alby and leaned into him. Looking up at him, there was nothing but love in their eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t scare you, didn’t I?”

The Runechild signed something and shook their head.

Alby smiled and swayed again. Harley caught and supported him. “Thanks, sorry,” Alby said. He made a point to not look at Harley.

“No, I deserved it,” Harley said. He sighed as they slowly made their way out of the hall. “You’ll be the one to marry the Runechild. They like you more anyways.”

“No, I won’t. You completely missed the point. You really need to listen better,” Alby said, but he didn’t sound angry this time. “It’s not for you or me to decide. It has to be Runie’s choice. If they don’t want to get married, they don’t have to. We’ll figure out something else.”

The Runechild made a soft sound. “But I do want to marry you.”

Alby’s face became a bright purple under the blood. “Oh. Oh then in that case, I want to marry you too.”

Chuckling, Harley shook his head at the two of them. There was no way they would make it on their own. Not yet at least. But Alby had potential, especially since he managed to take out two of Algar’s men on his own. He just needed training that didn’t involve holding a sword. Training that Harley could give him, if Alby wanted it. Harley would have to ask him of course, which would probably be the hard part for Harley, but he never said no to a challenge.


	6. Epilogue

Ten Years Later

Harley groaned as he stared out the window of the coach. He was more than ready to be out of the coach. Unfortunately he had two more days on the road ahead of him. It was the traveling life that he wanted, but more of the going new places and meeting new people part, not the whole being stuck in a coach or a ship or on a horse part. The coach slowed as they approached a small village. "Pardon me, my lord, but may we stop for the horses? They could use some water and hay," the coachman said.

"Of course," Harley said. "And I'm certain that we could all do with the same. Well, not the hay part, but the lunch part." And that would at least let him stretch his legs a little. Traveling could be tedious work.

"Certainly."

The coach pulled through the village. It was charming enough, but if you saw one small village you saw them all and each and every one made Harley think of where he had last seen Alby. Eight and a half years had passed since Harley had last seen his younger brother. They had decided that it would be for the best that they both go their separate ways from the village where Harley trained Alby in fighting and how to live outside the castle.

Outside of a small tavern and inn, the coach stopped. "I'll take care of the horses and arrange for a room for your lunch, my lord."

"No need," Harley said. "There's a bakery right there. I can just get us lunch from there and we can eat outside." He'd been cooped up too long to stay inside.

The guard sitting across from him snorted. She had been unimpressed with his attitude and all the risks Harley took, but she was good at her job. Even if she was unnecessary. Harley had shown himself more than capable of protecting himself.

Harley jumped out of the coach as soon as the door opened. With a flourish he turned around and offered the guard his hand. "May I be of assistance?"

"That's my job," the guard said.

"You were too slow. You'll have to beat me next time," Harley said with a smirk.

The guard just glowered at him and followed him into the bakery.

Harley had to close his eyes as he breathed in the smell of the bakery. After living so long with Alby, he could tell how good a bakery was by the smell and this was an excellent one. He crouched down in front of the display. "Do you think they use cinnamon in their bear claws here? We're still a ways from Nicodranas, but we might get lucky," he said to the guard.

"Yeah, we use cinnamon here," a young voice said creaking and cracking painfully. "But we're the only ones in the area that does."

From the back of the bakery came a half orc who looked to be in his mid teens or whatever counted for mid-teens for a half-orc(Oskar had once explained it all to Harley, but it was all number mush by the time he finished). He was thin and gangly, but already Harley's height. The teen stared at Harley as though he was measuring him.

"That's good," Harley said, ignoring the teen's stare. "There's nothing quite like cinnamon bear claws to get rid of homesickness."

"My pa says the same thing," the half-orc said carefully.

Harley smiled at him. "Sounds like another Nicodranian born and raised. Excellent. Then I'm certain that I'll want a half a dozen of them."

“Oh, okay. Umm, excuse me a moment.” The teen leaned into the back of the shop. “Pa! There’s a tiefling here!”

“You see a tiefling every day! And don’t holler in front of customers!” a voice hollered back.

“Yeah, but he almost kinda looks like you!” the teen shouted.

Sounds of frantic scrambling came from the back. And then standing at the door was Alby. After all those years, there was Alby. Tears began to fill up Harley’s eyes. In none of his dreams had Harley imagined seeing his brother again. And yet there he was.

“Al-” But Harley wasn’t even able to say his name before Alby rushed across the room and swept him up in a tight hug. His guard was nearly as fast with her sword, but her arm was caught in a one handed grab. 

"My lord!" the guard shouted.

"It's alright," Harley said staring down at the man who held him. "It's okay, he's my brother." Tears welled up in Harley's eyes again. It'd been so long since he had last seen Alby.

"Your brother? But, Oskar is at the castle."

Harley sighed. "My other brother. The one that is rumored to have died tragically and possibly by my hand and now is cursed to haunt the halls. You can let go of her Alby."

"Oh, okay," Alby said. He released her arm and began to put Harley back on the ground. The Guard huffed and stood watch at the corner.

"Hey, I only said to let her go, not me. I'm not done yet." Harley hugged his brother back. It was too long since they'd seen each other.

Alby buried his face into Harley. "I’ve missed you so much."

"Me too.” They stayed together like that for a long moment. “Alright, now you can put me down," Harley said.

"Oh right." Alby set Harley down and wiped the tears off of his face. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was going to buy some bear claws."

Alby huffed. "You know what I meant."

"On the way back home after fulfilling a diplomatic mission," Harley said. "But I never thought I’d see you here of all places. Is this yours?” He waved at the bakery. “Is this?” Harley pointed at the teenager.

“Yes and yes,” Alby said. “Loch, this is your Uncle Harley.”

Loch stared at Harley from behind Alby. “Um, hello.”

“A pleasure, Loch,” Harley said with a bow. “Is Runie here? Are they okay?”

“They’re fine, Harley. Loch, can you go get your baba for us?” Alby asked.

Loch nodded and ran out of the shop.

Harley watched Loch as he left. “It’s only been eight years since we’ve seen each other, right? And he’s a half orc, right?”

"Yes, he's adopted," Alby said with a sigh.

"I wasn't asking," Harley said defensively. "But good to know. So, you're here now."

Alby nodded. "Yes I am."

"You could come back to the castle, you know. Una and I changed the laws five years ago. The Runechild's official considered a person by law," Harley said.

Alby sighed. "It's not so simple. I have a life here."

Harley frowned and nodded. "I can tell that, but you could move if you wanted.” 

“I’m not going back to the basement,” Alby said. “I’ve tasted too much freedom to go back to the castle.”

Harley held up his hands. ”Okay, okay. But the city? You could manage the city. If you wanted.” He took a deep breath and added. “Or you know, even get a divorce if you and Runie wanted."

"You listen and you listen well, Harley Lavorre," a soft small voice said behind him. Chills went down his spine as he turned to see Runie standing there. They wore a smock stained with clay and their long hair was tied up in a bun. "Nothing and no one is going to take my husband from me without a fight." Runie had gained confidence after leaving the castle, Harley knew that, but even when he’d last seen them, they were still a meek timid thing. And Alby just watched Runie like they were the most beautiful person in the world.

Blanching, Harley took a step back. "I'm not. I was just saying that it was an option now."

"An option we won't be taking," Alby said. "And as for moving-"

"That's an option we'd consider," Runie said.

Alby stared down at them. "We would?"

The Runechild nodded. "Of course, we would. You miss your family more than anything and living in the same city as them would do you some good. Not the same castle, but same city. And I would have a better market for my statues."

"The city?" Loch asked nervously.

"Nicodranas," Harley said. "It's by the seaside so you can go off to the beach and do whatever teenagers do there. You’re going to love it. And you'll be able to meet your little cousins, Makayl and Bastion, those are Una’s kids. Cute as buttons. And your grandparents will want to meet you too."

Alby frowned. "It's too sudden to move."

"But not too sudden to think about it," the Runechild said.

"I can take care of everything. I'll find you a great bakery. With your permission of course," Harley added after a glare from Alby and the Runechild.

Alby rubbed his chin. "I guess we should at least think about it. Later though."

Harley frowned. "Later?"

"After you tell us all the news from home," Alby said.

With a laugh, Harley nodded. "Where do I even begin?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH! It's over! Thank you all for reading this! I loved writing this. The widojest grandbabies are named after folks from the widojest discord.
> 
> I have to thank sebgray for helping me plot this out. I couldn't have done this without him.


End file.
